Aquarium's release of rehabilitated seal spotlights problem of marine debris
Mystic — Mystic Aquarium announced Tuesday that its release of a male harbor seal which it nursed back to health over the past four months, spotlights the problem of marine debris and its damaging effects on the ocean and marine life.
Copper, an approximately 1-year-old seal, arrived at the aquarium on March 25 after being rescued in Southport, Maine, by Marine Mammals of Maine.
The seal was dehydrated, weighed just 48 pounds and had severe entanglement wounds around his neck.
After four months of intense medical care and rehabilitation, the aquarium said Copper weighed more than 84 pounds when he was released Tuesday in Narragansett, R.I.
“Trash, pollution, litter, debris; while it’s known by many names, the everlasting effects of its presence on our planet (continue) to threaten the health of our oceans and its inhabitants,” the aquarium said in announcing the release.
It added Copper’s story is “a stark example of the realities of the harmful effects of marine debris.”
“We hope his story will leave an enormous and everlasting impact on everyone involved,” said Sarah Callan, assistant coordinator of the aquarium’s Animal Rescue Clinic. “We hope that when people learn about Copper they will think twice before carelessly discarding trash and think first of picking up trash on shorelines everywhere.”
The aquarium stated that according to the Ocean Conservancy, more than 200 species worldwide are affected by entanglement. Seals become wrapped in discarded fishing lines, turtles suffocate after swallowing balloons and whales ingest plastic bags, bottles, fishing hooks and other debris that float from shore.
The aquarium said that “small actions can make a huge difference in the ecology of our oceans.”
These include limiting individual production of debris on land and at sea by recovering fishing lines, nets, or traps and joining local beach cleanup efforts.
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